You can see for miles at the top of Jeffrey Hill

On Friday night, for some crazy reason, I thought it would be a good idea to start tidying out the box room which is full of clutter.  I didn't get too far - apart from taking all the boxes out of the room and making a right mess of the rest of the house!  I need to go through the boxes and it's going to take some time to do a proper job of it.

We nipped to the garden centre on Saturday morning.  I was looking for some baby winter veg plants to fill the gaps left behind after picking the potatoes.  They didn't really have anything apart from some wilted leeks, so I bought 3 pots and they reduced  them to £1 for all 3 - bargain.  Once I got home I gave them a good water and they've come back to life again, so I'll get them planted asap.

I picked some sweet peas.

The flower in the back garden are looking good.

Steve's been enjoying sleeping in the long grass we've left uncut for him.  It's his own little jungle.

It was hot and sunny on Saturday so in the afternoon we nipped to the allotment with a beer, with the intention of just having a potter and enjoying being down there.  I had a tidy around and checked everything was doing OK.  One of the cucumber plants has wilted.  The melons are growing but there aren't any fruit, yet in the greenhouse at home I've two melons coming along nicely.  Melons are a hard crop to grow - not one for the beginner. 

I remembered that I'd sown some cut flower calendula, I was wondering why they'd grown so tall in the greenhouses, then I realised they’re tall because they're meant to be cut and placed in a vase.  I picked a bunch full and they look great in a vase in the shed.

Some of the garlic tops had died off on one variety so I harvested these.  The garlic was so lovely and white once we peeled off the top layer, and it tastes amazing too!

On Saturday night Chris treated us to a meal out at the local Italian, which made a nice change.

We went to the car boot sale on Sunday again.  I got some fabric and 2 cookery books - Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food, which is surprisingly pretty good and would make an ideal gift for someone new to cooking.  I also got Gino D'Acampo's the I-Diet which is great as well - I paid £1 for them both.  Chris got some books and some wood for carving.  After the car boot we stopped off at a local river and had an ice cream.  Then we had a drive to a viewpoint called Jeffrey Hill, we could see for miles, and as far as the sea.

I went to the allotment with my mum on Sunday afternoon to pick some ingredients for a Thai green curry.  We got some broad beans, garlic, chilli and peas, and she took some peaches, a lettuce and some spring onions.  On the way out we nipped into Barbara's plot which she's recently taken on since the last plot holder passed away.  She has a few DIY greenhouses, one of which houses an amazing grape vine which is absolutely full of bunches of grapes.  Someone said the vine started off as a cutting from my Dad's vine, as he was really into growing grapes, to the point were they called him the 'vine man'.  I wish I'd have seen his vines.  Barbara's done me a cutting and as soon as it takes I'm going to get it growing in one of our greenhouses.

Sometimes it drives me a bit mad at work.  I work with four other girls and one is pregnant so they go on about babies all the time.  And if it's not babies it's weddings and wedding dresses.  They also eat lots of rubbish food e.g. diet coke, msg crisps, ready meals, ready made mash.  I suggested someone baked their own fairy cakes the other day and they said they'd rather just buy them from the shop.  Ohhhhh.  I really feel like the odd one out.  I mentioned it to a friend and she said they're just muggles, but it doesn't help.  How can people not care about the food they eat, what's in it and where it comes from?  It doesn't make sense to me?  It such a contrast to the people I know at the shop, where they understand about food and green living, at least I feel like I fit in there.

Anyway, on a brighter note, I've ordered a new bike!  My employer has signed up to the cycle to work scheme which means I'll save about 40% off a bike.  I visited a few shops before I settled on the Giant Revel 3.  I just need to wait for my voucher to come through the post then I can go and pick it up!  I'm going to cycle to the allotment then come home the long way round - it'll help me get fitter if nothing else.

My mum came across this potato which has a face!